Fund profile / United States

Redbud VC Fund II

Geography: United States
Stage: Pre-Seed
Fund size: $25M
Focus: AI/ML, Deep Tech, FinTech and PropTech
Signals: Published

N°01 / About

About Redbud VC Fund II

Columbia, Missouri-based pre-seed and seed fund backing "outsider founders" — first-time entrepreneurs, immigrants, and Midwest builders. 5x step-up from Fund I ($5M), which delivered 48% IRR and 1.7x TVPI. Formerly known as Scale VC.

N°02 / Thesis

Investment Focus

Location / RegionUnited States

Funding StagePre-Seed

Industry Focus

AI/ML

Deep Tech

FinTech

PropTech

SaaS

Investor Signals Profile

active

Sweet Spot

Resilient outsider founder, any geography, first-check to pre-seed

outsider-founders

pre-seed-global

immigrant-founders

first-time-entrepreneurs

resilience-first

Bullish Signals

Fund II closed at $25M — 5x step-up backed by actual 48% IRR track recordblog

Co-investors include Sequoia and Y Combinator following Redbud into portfolio companiesblog

1,500 founder calls per year signals exceptional sourcing depth for fund sizeblog

21% DPI on a pre-seed fund of this vintage is rare — real capital returned to LPsblog

$150M raised via network for 44 portfolio companieswebsite

500+ intros secured; 20+ avg in first 6 monthswebsite

First institutional check in 60%+ of portfoliowebsite

OneImaging raised $38M follow-on — portfolio breakout signalwebsite

15,000+ newsletter readers — strong founder community flywheelwebsite

61% first-time entrepreneurs, 45% immigrants in portfoliowebsite

12 new investments annually — consistent deployment cadencewebsite

Direct operator support from billion-dollar company builderswebsite

Columbia, MO has one of world's highest billion-dollar companies per capitawebsite

Redbud ethos: different perspective, values, network, hustle, humilitywebsite

Punch above weight class for portfolio companies; barrier removal focusedwebsite

Asepha & Layer 9 portfolio: immediate network acceleration to marketwebsite

Contrarian Signals

Small fund size creates structural limits on pro rata and follow-on reservesblog

Explicitly rejects coastal-pedigree pattern-matching — Stanford/YC bias a dealbreakerblog

Generalist mandate — no sector focus may dilute expertisewebsite

Columbia, MO HQ — limited tier-1 metro deal flow accesswebsite

Founder Do's

Pitch directly — no intro required, open to anyone

Highlight first-time founder, immigrant, or Midwest roots

Raise first-check to pre-seed; $150K checks confirmed

Emphasize resilience, struggle, and grit in story

Leverage network access — 500+ intros, 20+ avg in first 6 months

Founder Don'ts

Don't pitch post-seed — too late stage

Don't rely on coastal pedigree or formal education as signal

Don't expect industry-specific thesis fit — generalist, resilience-first

31 signals on Redbud VC Fund II

16 bullish · 4 contrarian · 5 pitch do's · 3 don'ts · 3 GP profiles, each with its source. From €9/month, cancel anytime.

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Facts

Fund Overview

Fund Size$25M

Saves0

Website

People

Key People

Brett Calhoun, Willy Schlacks, Jabbok Schlacks

Brett CalhounManaging General Partner

Willy SchlacksGeneral Partner

Jabbok SchlacksGeneral Partner

N°04 / See also

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